My views on social media

It would be absolutely remiss of me to not start this reflective statement piece with the admission that before undertaking this assignment and task, I was extremely skeptical, negative, and unfortunately quite bias about social media as a whole. I’ve always had an ongoing view that it is destructive, anaesthetising, and worst of all, extremely invasive, and with countless examples, such as how Brown (2018), explains the problematic nature of social media, I could easily find supporting documentation for to support my opinions.

I found at the beginning of my research for each of the modules, I was leaning into my biases quite heavily, with an automatic response mentally of “Yes, but…”. What I found, after working through each of the six OLJ tasks, and the unit as a whole, is that my perceptions and views toward social media have genuinely been quite interestingly mitigated. Perhaps not entirely, but, with neutral and extensive information providing argument for both sides of the view I have held for so long, and understanding that as an information professional myself, it is my job to be sure I do not let my personal perspectives or biases interfere with information I am communicating, it was a very informative and honestly quite humbling experience.

I still do have strong issues with social media, as a whole, however, there are facets of the utilisation of social media that I have learned about, that are definitely different. I can not only see how absolutely invaluable a role it can play for an information service, such as a library, gallery, or museum, to utilise, in terms of maintaining front-line communication with patrons and users, but also, manifesting a positive and contemporary image for what can sometimes unfortunately be considered an archaic institution. (Libraries especially). The most ironic part of this realisation is that I myself am responsible for the social media communications of the library I am working in, however I have always felt myself detached from my views whilst doing it, however the research I’ve undertaken for this assignment, and the previous, made me not only have a look at social media platforms and technology on a fundamental level, but also, my own views and opinions. It would truly be the pinnacle of hypocrisy to write an assignment about how an information professional needs to be able to change, and then refuse to consider changing or reassessing my preconceptions and views about social media. I truly learned a lot, about social media, and myself. In this, I am confident that I am capable of the flexibility and acceptance of change required in the informational professionals of the future, and if anything, I truly feel working through this assignment and the previous has underlined my passion for my career as a whole.

I think, summarily, social media is an absolutely invaluable tool when it comes to not only the information sector, but organisations and the professional world as a whole. No matter the platform, offering information, transparent and direct communication, in a digestible, contemporary, and engaging manner, has the capacity to maximise the consumption by relevant users of whatever service it is, and what’s more, there is such a strong, incredibly powerful capacity for information services, such as libraries, to reach patrons and users in a new, exciting way (Yadukrishnan, 2023).

Tools I’ve used during this unit

Through the session, I have utilised Facebook, Instagram, WordPress, YouTube, Discord, and even Twitter, some for the first time, some for the last time. As mentioned previously, I am personally involved directly with the creation and implementation of our library’s external communications, meaning that I have learned some great information and gained some excellent tools regarding how to approach my job in future, and I feel like this in turn means some exciting things for the Vision Australia Library service in 2024, as I feel better equipped, and also strongly educated.

Although I did utilise a lot of these various social media platforms, I think there is a reality that I may not continue to use them after this course has finished. Whilst I can indeed acknowledge and see the value that information agencies such as libraries can get from the use of various social media, and I will also continue to develop content on a professional level, I still hold my own personal views toward the use of social media, and whilst I am absolutely happy to admit that utilised as a professional tool, social media is fantastic and has an incredibly infinite amount of potential, I do not have any plan or will to use it on a personal level, as I do not see any gain in doing so. I’ll take a quiet couch and a big heavy book over scrolling through Instagram feeds any day. Not that this is meant judgementally, but, I actively do attempt to separate personal and professional in my life, and for me, it’s books, any day.

Issues in the online social environment and me

Having had such a skeptical, predominantly suspicious and hesitant view and approach toward social media, particularly on a personal level, before jumping into this session, course, and assessment, I will say I feel like the issues that are prevalent in social media were already in mind, that is of course what one focuses on when they have a negative view of something. However, through research, I truly became aware of my own hypocrisy, especially being someone who has been caught repeatedly advising to others “Find solutions, not problems”. Utilising this mentality when approaching these tasks, I found it incredibly informative. The issues are there, of course, however, I feel that I am more open to, and aware, of not just these issues that caused my heavy bias to begin with, but also potential courses of action to mitigate the issues, or at least, how to address them. Whilst some concerns will always be there, such as, I am stringently security conscious, and the idea of giving any of my personal data to organisations such as Meta, TenCent, etc. (Singer, 2018), is an appalling concept to me, particularly since it is perpetually evident what these companies do with that data, and I personally very vehemently resist this.

However, issues such as how Instagram and influencers can cause a lot of damage to the social life and self esteem of teenagers, or how TikTok enables misogynist sociopaths like Andrew Tate to destructively affect an entire generation of young, impressionable boys who don’t understand the consequences and detrimental effect this sort of thing truly has (Wilson, 2022), have been further elucidated through my research, such as realising and agreeing with the sentiment that although we may not consciously be able to choose how specific social media affects us, we do choose what social media we follow.

Contributions and Construction – Everyone else is much smarter than me and my OLJ Blog

I found the process of constructing and contributing to my OLJ blog fascinating. I have never actually used WordPress in this state before, although I have been a blogger in the past, multiple times. I find this interface quite streamlined, and the ability to communicate with my classmates on their blogs is simplistic, direct, and very easy. I think this is a great thing, as it encourages interaction between those in the class, as well as information sharing and potential resource discovery, such as: a reference or journal or resource a classmate has used may be incredibly relevant to something I have posted myself, but I did not find it, so being able to quickly not only access that information through my peers blogs, but also reflect on what they thought about it as well, helped me gain a much better understanding of the various sections of information throughout the unit as a whole. I think this delivery style, whilst I strongly disagreed with having to create a Facebook account, was efficient, and the use of blogs is an excellent example of information professionalism and communication.

I also found, whilst scrolling through my classmates various blogs, not only was it very impressive how intelligent everyone in the unit is, but also, I was learning more and more in a very relatable, conversational, at times even informal way, of information I hadn’t addressed or covered myself. I found myself wanting to approach certain OLJ tasks that other class members hadn’t covered themselves, not only so my approach was unique, but also because I was in a position to give and provide information and my own reflection on the resources I’d used for research, but also that extra bit of information that hadn’t already been covered, and therein a fresh and new perspective on a facet of social media and technology that hadn’t been already written about.

Assessment 1

Maintaining the frank honesty within this reflection, I had initially gone into Assessment 1 with a subconscious expectation that because I already do social media and communication at my library, it is one of the main things within the scope of my role, that perhaps I would find it easy, and it would come naturally. This was especially prevalent when opening Assessment 1, because I had actually had a very strong part in developing our own social media proposal, which was then later developed into our organisational social media strategy and policy for the library. That said, it was quite the experience to stop, take stock of the assessment, and consider the very unique and interesting content that was required for the assessment. A crucial example is the specificity of a rural / regional library, as that is very different to my own national service, or any main city-oriented or metropolitan library service (Larimo, 2022). Having to research deeper into the needs and potential issues or difficulties a library of this nature might face was fascinating, and I found myself leaving the completed assessment feeling like I had ‘levelled up’ in my own job, and as mentioned previously, I have ever intent to take the various things I’ve learned into my job in this new year, and I am excited to get stuck into the social media and communications part of my role with the addition of everything I’ve learned through completing both of these assessments, hopefully successfully.

Although I did, due to my current role and career, have a decent understanding of the limitations, expectations, and day-to-day of working in a social environment, both in an offline, and online sense, I felt that Assessment 1, if not teaching me something through research I was conducting, reinforced a few ideals and procedures I had already learned. Knowing that what I do in my job outside of the course is right, and reinforced by infinite amounts of research, bolsters my confidence in myself and what I am able to do professionally, as well as equipping me with a keener, sharper sense for methods and best practices.

Overall, I find myself completing the unit with a wealth of information I hadn’t considered before, and the interesting premise of this assessment requiring a reflective statement is appropriate, as due to my previous views and feelings about the topic, I was required to do some reflection throughout, and, will continue to do so. Social media is here to stay, and whilst there are many issues to the negative that can be discussed, there are also so many positives, and when it comes to the reality of accessibility, inclusion, and information sharing, there is little that comes close to comparison.
I guess a good closing statement on how I feel about social media platforms, social media practices, and information literacy as a whole is, there are certain aspects I will not like, but to all of it, I will subscribe.

References

Brown, J. (2018) Is social media bad for you? The evidence and the unknowns. BBC Future. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180104-is-social-media-bad-for-you-the-evidence-and-the-unknowns

Larimo, J., Li, F., & Leonidou, L. C. (2022). Social media in marketing research: Theoretical bases, methodological aspects, and thematic focus. Psychology & Marketing, 40(1), p. 124-145. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21746

Singer, N. (2018). What You Don’t Know About How Facebook Uses Your Data. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/technology/facebook-privacy-hearings.html

Wilson, B. (2022). Andrew Tate’s been banned from social media. But his harmful content still reaches young men. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/andrew-tate-social-media-bans-1.6573978

Yadukrishnan, T. A., Kumar, A., & Ihejirika, K. T. (2023). More user engagement, better for libraries: Proposing a framework for social Media integration in libraries. Information Development, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/02666669231191074

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